Lanaya's Search for the Ashbringer

[ghost]

Lanaya's Search for the Ashbringer (December -> March Character Progress / Journal)

Lanaya: "I had to compete against the other candidates for first, to be better than them in everything simply because I was not of the old blood." (Quote from Lanaya, from Dragon Age)

Everything lives and everything dies. Undeath, however, is an unnatural state of life. The reanimation of skeletons which act as puppets for Necromancers, the stitching of vast abominations which terrorise townsteads, the haunting unfinished business of spectral ghosts. As a Paladin of the Light I must choose my path, I must choose my actions when faced with undeath. Ethical quandaries are the crux of being a Paladin. You must choose who to save, when to strike, when to heal, when to retreat.

Where do I draw the line?

I had not considered this question until I met a hermit in the woods. Abercrombie, an elderly man on the outskirts of Raven Hill Cemetary. He asked me for aid and I gave him my best effort to help him. He was a liar. He betrayed me. The madman Abercrombie was stitching together an abomination to destroy the town of Duskwood and I had accidentally helped him in my naivete. I killed "Stitches". I killed Abercrombie and his unliving wife. They needed to die for the safety of others. The things I learned about the undead of Azeroth in this experience have stirred action within me. I will put a stop to all of this.

I must travel north to see it all for myself.

The scourge have amassed in great numbers in the north of Lordaeron, they are mindless feral creatures, ghouls, and abominations that must be killed. However, not too far South-West lies a subterrainean city of Forsaken. Mindful undead. They remember who they are, what they once were, perhaps they can be cured? I will address the Forsaken conundrum at a later date, they are clearly categorically different to the Scourge.

I have arrived at Chilldwind Camp. Lips are tight here regarding information. A woman named Alexia Ironknife was a weaponsmith with the Scarlet Crusade. This Dwarven hardass was a stonewall to get information from. She knows more than she's telling me about the Ashbringer. I've ordered her some drinks and I'll see if the information flows more freely once she has a fire in her belly and a glaze to her eyes. She reveals to me the location of Light's Hope Chapel as she can sense the light within me. I travel there tomorrow, but I fear I will not make it. If a single scourge in this cursed land lays its hands on me it will be my end. I am years removed from being able to go toe to toe with the scourge of the Plaguelands, but I must uncover the truth.

Light's Hope Chapel is host to many discussions. One of these discussions was about the Ashbringer and its potential. Captain Dawnbringer says "The Ashbringer is dead and there will never be another like him. The lesser Mograine is a far cry from the man his father was. You know this, Commander! It was, after all, your own leadership that was responsible for the death of the Scarlet Highlord Mograine. It was your leadership that manipulated a grieving child to try to recover the sword. A child that has grown into a man with nothing but vengeance and hatred in his heart! And for what? You are no closer to the sword now than you were five years ago. Yet you think that recovering Ashbringer will somehow turn the tide of battle? Let me let you in on a little secret, Commander. The power of the Ashbringer came from the man who would wield it... I was there, Commander. I watched him burn legions of undead in righteous fire before he would even unsheathe the blade. Alas, your grasp on history is... lacking."

I must go now to the Scarlet Monastary with the information I have overheard and discuss this with them. I hope that sneaking out of the Plaguelands is as achievable as sneaking into them.

I have infiltrated the Scarlet Monastery Graveyards. They are torturing the undead for information. This causes me great uncertainty. The presence of mindless undead is plentiful, they are under the rule of Bloodmage Thalnos who's head I have severed and who's soul I have exorcised.. We annexed and purged the entire dungeon of its creatures. Inside of the Graveyard was a Lich named Scourge. I felt no different to Interrogator Vishas as I partially exorcised it piece by piece until it relented information. Where are you from? Naxxramas. What do you most fear? The Ashbringer. And so it died.

The Scarlet Library contained, aside from hundreds of insane Zealots, a vast wealth of information and lore on all topics. I find myself greatly enriched by its readings. He was the keeper of the Monastery's library; a guardian of the arcane that the Scarlet Crusade is rumored to distrust. Yet he is indeed a trusted official of the Crusade, keeping a vital key that grants access to Scarlet operations across the Plaguelands. Arcanist Doan believes that arcane magic is the only way to rid Lordaeron of the Scourge. I took his life and then I took his key.

The key opened the door to the Scarlet armoury which has been thoroughly cleared. I have taken a full set of the Scarlet Armaments for my own use. Champion Herod lies dead before me. I hold in my hands a Tabard of the Scarlet Crusade. I can use this combined with the full set of Scarlet Equipment to trick those at Light's Hope Chapel to reveal further information to me about the Ashbringer's Location. I must disguise my race as human to do so, but this is something I am no stranger to after my expeditions into Bloodmyst Isle wherein I disguised myself as a Blood Elf and later the same trick to wield one of 's most treasured artifacts - the Windstorm Hammer from Thousand Needles. I will handle this at a later date.

A Cathedral. A place of worship, prayer, and community. I should be happy in this wing of the Scarlet Monastery but I can sense a darkness within. Fighting my way above my weight to the head of the Cathedral. I confronted Mograine about his past. Is it true that he killed his father and corrupted the Ashbringer? He was not as talkative as I needed him to be. He fought valiantly... both times. Eventually he and Whitemane fell and we scoured the Cathedral for clues.

Hidden away in a backroom behind a torch sconce trigger was an undead man. High Inquisitor Fairbanks he claimed to be named. He begged for his life to be spared and began bargaining with the chips he had at his disposal. Fairbanks must have overheard me questioning Mograine as he claimed he know of the Ashbringer. He says that if I return with the Ashbringer he can speak with me further and will reveal the location of Mograine's second son.

The irony of High Priestess Whitemane, bane to the undead, using resurrection magic to render Mograine in a state of undeath is not lost on me. Further irony found is that the Scarlet Crusade, enemy to the undead, keep one of their own locked up in nothing more than a musty cupboard. Then again, I have resurrected people in my travels many a time. Where do we draw the line between necromancy and redemption?